Solo butchering in bear country

[WCB]

A lot of talk about "moving the animal." How about animals too big to be moved? I guess then it's just hope for the best.

By moving...guys mean as you debone or quarter the animals move that meat away from the carcass/gut pile. They don't mean drag the elk to a new location.

Quartered a bunch of elk in major Grizzly country. I check around often and work quick. If possible move the meat into an open area for return trips.
Do some of you guys have to take anxiety medication just to leave the truck? Wolves, MT Lions, Sasquatch, etc....(just havin fun).
I am amazed how many people walk around oblivious to anything happening around them. I think just having a general awareness of your surroundings and taking 5 minutes to look around and make a plan before starting the break down process of an animal will keep you out of 99% of bad situations. Then there is the bastard Grizz that doesn't give 2 flying F's about anything and there is nothing you can do about it.

 

[Panhandler80]

By moving...guys mean as you debone or quarter the animals move that meat away from the carcass/gut pile. They don't mean drag the elk to a new location.

Quartered a bunch of elk in major Grizzly country. I check around often and work quick. If possible move the meat into an open area for return trips.
Do some of you guys have to take anxiety medication just to leave the truck? Wolves, MT Lions, Sasquatch, etc....(just havin fun).
I am amazed how many people walk around oblivious to anything happening around them. I think just having a general awareness of your surroundings and taking 5 minutes to look around and make a plan before starting the break down process of an animal will keep you out of 99% of bad situations. Then there is the bastard Grizz that doesn't give 2 flying F's about anything and there is nothing you can do about it.

Hope to moose hunt Alaska in 2022, and I'll be honest.... I'm a little unnerved by the whole bear / moose gut situation. It's going to take some time to clean, and chances are, the moose will go down somewhere without a lot of visibility... especially for the unit I'm looking at. There's really not much you can do other than hope for the best, I guess.

 

[Laramie]

I just choose to not butcher solo in G bear country. Black bears and lions do not even enter my thoughts when elsewhere. That said, I do still carry a sidearm.

 

[ThrowawayPNW]

95% of my hunting is solo with a good chance of grizz near by. B.C. might as well stand for Bear Country. I’ve never had a serious issue whilst field dressing but have had to chase some Yogis away on return trips. Drag what you can into an open spot and I try to get all meat out and leave my pack at the kill site if need be. My stinky drawers might attract a bear but he’s not going to stand his ground trying but to keep ‘em.

 

[Drummond]

does anyone break the pack out into legs and shuttle all of the meat each leg so it doesn't sit in one place too long?

 

[DawnPatrol]

If in grizzly country, work fast and get it out that day. And don't hunt alone (not always feasible). If we can't get it out in one load, hang the quarters quite a ways upwind of the carcass somewhere you can see them from far off upon our return.

If not in grizzly country, hope to punch my fall bear tag.

Cougars wouldn't cross my mind in that situation--if cougars wanted to eat me, they would have done it already.

 

[Ron.C]

I hunt solo allot in griz country and have done a few elk by myself. Twice I shot an early season warm weather bull late in the evening that left me no choice but butcher and pack by headlamp throughout the night. Not crazy about doing this alone in the dark in griz country. And I'll be honest and say at times its very unnerving. But if you aren't prepared to accept the risk and do the work you shouldn't pull the trigger or release the arrow.

I carry a pac alarm with me and quickly string up a perimeter then get to it, and I like to talk to myself or sing as I work. Pop up and have a look/listen every few minutes. I want to get all the meat off and away from the carcass and cooling as soon as possible.

I bag each quarter as soon as it comes off and carry it about 70-100 yards upwind of the carcass in as open of an area as I can find. If a griz comes in while I'm working at least he won't get it all.

Once all done, I'll run the pac alarm around the quarters I need to return for.

I did have a black bear sneak in about 10 feet behind me when I was dressing the Roosevelt elk in my avatar "once in a lifetime Vancouver Island draw 20 minutes from home" . No firearm "was bowhunting". Scared him off grabbing my tripod that I set up with my camera and banging the legs together as I hollered at him. He lingered withing 50-70 yards the entire time I was dressing. I wasn't giving that elk up to that bear, but I wouldn't of been that bold with a griz!!!!